Staff Pick: LORD BYRON

By BARCODE 2X

The great George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824), had quite a reputation. A lover of sex and drugs, alternative medicine, animals, and drinking wine from a skull, Byron lived life to its fullest until his untimely death at age 36. He caught a chill riding his horse in a rainstorm and was bled to death with leeches at the doctor's.

He bedded some 2500 women on a trip to Rome once. He was in love with his sister and wrote of his devotion to her. His work is celebrated, and his life was more glamorous and excessive than any rock star's. An omnivore of life.

Favorite poems: Epistle to Augusta, and The Tear.

He is our ethical pick this week for one big reason. He begs the question: does being an artist afford a person special privileges? Can an artist get away with things that would not be acceptable, or even legal, in any other situation? And can they be celebrated and rewarded for it too?

Are artists encouraged to live life in greater extremes than the rest of the population? And when they live on the edge, does their life and their work become impossible to separate?